Although I cannot, or rather should not afford it, I have bought the Eileen Fisher Viscose Pencil Skirt. It is excellent. Now I want all, or at least most of the items that go with it. At least I know what I am shopping for, and at least it creates a coherent wardrobe.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
Vicious! (in a good way, of course)
A vice! What I need for work is a jacket or blazer, I have 2, one 10 years old and one 15, but … I’ve got this skirt!
I admit I googled it to see what it cost, and it is a bit breathtaking. But hopefully you can amortize it over a few years. And it’s always great to make a new start to make yourself feel better.
There’s a thrift store near me where I am had the luck to find several Eileen Fisher pieces…it helps to live near Newport Beach! But I’ve yet to find a skirt: jacket, linen tops, pants…no skirt!
Mine’s the black one and what I’m figuring is, once I get a jacket it will make a really smart suit and I won’t need another. And it packs well, and holds its shape better than do its parallels in cotton knits. But I do wish we had a good thrift store. In graduate school there was the UCSF thrift store – castoffs from San Francisco doctor’s wives. We were some very fashionable and elegant T.A.’s, at virtually no cost!
Ha, I got the black one ten years ago, or at least one a whole lot like it. I’m still wearing it once a week. It goes with everything, winter and summer, and nobody seems to notice it’s the same skirt, or at least if they do, they’re too polite to say so. Some wax dripped on the bottom of it a couple years ago and left a couple baldish kind of spots. I assume that nobody notices those 🙂 Other than that, it still looks as good as new and doesn’t need dry cleaning–a great investment.
I’d like to buy a hakama, if only it was in classier material than rayon-polyester.
The hakama’s good.
And I’m glad – really glad – the Eileen Fisher turns out to be a good investment!!! I am still suffering slightly from the sticker shock, but there’s nothing I hate more than suddenly needing to have decent things to wear for work functions and having to shop at the last minute. There used to be a department store where you could go and say “dress me” an hour before you needed to be somewhere and they would do so reliably, and at a high-ish but still fair price, and you could wear those clothes for years … but that store is gone.
A hakam would definitely put the fear of G-d into your colleagues and students.
I love pieces that I know will last practically forever–I just find it really hard to predict which pieces those will be until I have worn them five or six times.
So I should get one then? Should I bring along Mike’s Jo, also?
My students are non-university students since I’m not required to teach in order to earn a PhD under the Australian system. I do have nice Japanese ESL students, however, in Tokyo, Hokkaido, etc.
Maybe then we should all get the hakama. I am serious. I have always found them quite attractive. I have bookmarked it. I am always looking for interesting jeans alternatives and this may well be one.
Pieces which will last forever, hard to predict, yes. Earlier on I was a Joan Vass addict for this reason (there was a store here that had it for 50%-75% off). But I think this Fisher stuff will also work. I need to find its discount source.
There are advantages to non-university students, yes.
Maybe if we band together we can get our own bulk discount for the hakama – a kind of unofficial uniform.
That’s a great idea. Shall I post it?
🙂